Suryakumar, bowlers pull India out from early trenches

The opening day of the T20 World Cup 2026 nearly braced itself for the most dramatic start as USA took the tournament favourites India head-on in the early stages of the game and found some success. But they lived and died by the PowerPlay sword. They reduced India to 46/3 but were themselves down to 31/3 in chase - offering a picture of how the evening eventually transpired.

Their bowlers came out to defy recent conventions of India being consistent batting bullies in this phase, and found jaw-dropping success. Placing a deep extra cover fielder for Abhishek Sharma earned them his wicket for a duck, and Ishan Kishan - who had repeatedly tonked balls over extra cover against New Zealand, found the same fielder with his hit off the slowest ball in the sixth over. Tilak Varma mistimed a pull and Shivam Dube, like Kishan, was undone by change of pace. USA found an unlikely ally in the sluggish Mumbai conditions and made the most of it, to leave India down to 46/4 in 6 overs.

The middle-overs didn't turn out to be the phase of revival like India would've liked. Rinku Singh came to bat ahead of Hardik Pandya but like the batters before him, struggled to find coherence with timing the ball. He hummed and hawed until the 12th over before finding Milind Kumar at long-on with a mistimed hit. It was a kind of evening where even Hardik Pandya's timing deserted him, leaving India down to 77 for 6 in the 13th over. Suryakumar Yadav then began to chance his arms a lot more than he did at the start, with Axar Patel standing ground at the other end. Two Saurabh Netravalkar overs at the death - worth 21 and 20, helped India find themselves out of the burrow. First in the 16th, Axar punished width with a four behind point and followed it up by guiding a slower one to the third man fence.

Suryakumar then jumped in and finished the over with a four and a six over deep mid-wicket. Harmeet Singh dented India in the following over with Axar's wicket, but Arshdeep Singh arrived swinging. He carted a four down the ground to wrap up the over. Shubham Ranjane conceded a boundary to Suryakumar on the first ball of the 18th over that brought up the India captain's half-century, but only six runs came from it.

Suryakumar started the 19th over onslaught by hitting a four over extra cover off a slower one before slog-sweeping fast bowler Shadley van Schalkwyk for a six. Netravalkar tried cutters and slower ones but only watched them fly the distance. Suryakumar smashed two fours and two sixes - shuffling across, falling over and still connecting well. It dragged India to 161/9.

Now for the death in the PowerPlay. USA lost Andries Gous in the second over when he slashed one to Tilak Varma at cover point, giving Mohammed Siraj a wicket on his T20I return for the first time since July 2024. Arshdeep Singh removed Monank Patel first ball in the third over, as USA's top-order struggled to grapple with India's fuller lengths early on. Saiteja Mukkamalla became Siraj's second wicket in the fourth over, when he flicked one to Varun CV at mid-wicket. Milind Kumar and Sanjay Krishnamurthi arrested the slide but USA limped to 31/3 in 6 overs, with a lot of quick catching up to do to turn the evening around.

But despite the fighting efforts of this pair, that wasn't to be. They added 58 off 52 deliveries, dragging their stand until the 12th over. Varun found a way through, to pick his first T20I World Cup wicket in four matches, as he had Milind stumped. Kishan fumbled a touch but managed to break the stumps on time and cleanly. Sanjay and Shubham Ranjane threatened to keep the chase going even as they needed 64 off the last five overs.

But a double-wicket over from Axar Patel left the chasing side well behind. Axar took out Sanjay and Harmeet Singh off successive deliveries and Hardik Pandya followed that up with a four-run over to put India on the cusp. Arshdeep then returned and dismissed Mohammad Mohsin. USA were seven down and the equation was 51 off 12 balls. India eventually took the two points with a 29-run victory.

Brief Scores:India 161/9 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 84; Shadley van Schalkwyk 4-25, Harmeet Singh 2-26) beat USA 132/8 in 20 overs (Sanjay Krishnamurthi 37; Mohammed Siraj 3-29, Arshdeep Singh 2-18, Axar Patel 2-24) by 29 runs